BARBA & PARTNER RECHTSANWÄLTE – YOUR LAWYERS FROM MUNICH
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO; German abbreviation: EUStA) prosecutes criminal offenses affecting the financial interests of the European Union. Its investigations often involve business-related matters with a cross-border dimension. Companies, managing directors, and other responsible individuals may all be affected.
Barba & Partner Rechtsanwälte represents clients in EPPO proceedings in Germany and, where investigations extend across borders, coordinates the defense with lawyers in other Member States.
Proceedings conducted by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office combine a European investigative framework with the criminal and criminal procedure laws of the Member States involved. If the investigation is conducted in Germany, the defense must therefore take into account both the EPPO Regulation and German procedural law.
Proceedings can become particularly complex when investigative measures are carried out in several Member States or when a company and responsible individuals are affected at the same time. In such cases, questions of jurisdiction, evidence gathering, and defense strategy need to be coordinated across borders.
The EPPO does not investigate commercial or tax offenses in general. Its jurisdiction is limited to criminal offenses affecting the financial interests of the European Union. The relevant offenses are those covered by the PIF Directive, as implemented in the national law of the respective Member State.
These include, in particular:
Special requirements apply to serious cross-border VAT fraud. The matter must involve at least two Member States and cause total damage of at least EUR 10 million.
An international element, a high amount of damage, or the fact that allegations concern commercial criminal law or criminal tax law are not, by themselves, sufficient to establish the jurisdiction of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. What matters is whether the alleged offense affects the financial interests of the European Union and whether the additional requirements of the EPPO Regulation are met.
The European Public Prosecutor’s Office has no jurisdiction over criminal offenses relating to national direct taxes.
The investigation is generally conducted by a Delegated European Prosecutor acting on behalf of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. In Germany, the Delegated European Prosecutor uses the investigative powers available under German criminal procedure law unless the EPPO Regulation provides specific rules.
The EPPO Regulation and German criminal and criminal procedure law therefore apply alongside each other. Where an investigation involves several Member States, the procedural rules of other countries may also become relevant to individual investigative measures.
An EPPO proceeding may be opened directly by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. In addition, under the conditions set out in the EPPO Regulation, the EPPO may take over an investigation that has already been opened by a national prosecution authority. This is known as the EPPO’s right of evocation.
The defense rights guaranteed under EU and national law also apply in proceedings conducted by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. These include, in particular, the right to legal assistance and the right to remain silent and not to incriminate oneself. In addition, depending on the applicable rules, suspects have rights to information, translation, access to the case file, and judicial review of measures affecting them.
Searches are also among the key investigative measures in EPPO proceedings. They may involve business premises, private residences, or other locations, as well as documents, data storage devices, and electronic communications. In companies, investigations often involve large volumes of data, email accounts, and accounting records.
In complex commercial investigations, it is often impossible during a search to assess immediately how relevant individual documents or data may be to the alleged offense. For this reason, suspects should avoid making premature statements about the allegations.
For the defense, the first priority is to document the measure as precisely as possible. In particular, the following should be clarified:
The search warrant, inventories of items secured or seized, and any other documents handed over by the authorities therefore generally provide an important basis for the initial legal assessment.
Digital data often plays a central role in commercial criminal proceedings and criminal tax proceedings. Investigations may involve emails, accounting data, business correspondence, cloud storage, or data from mobile phones and computers.
Where large volumes of data are involved, the defense must first determine what data was collected and which individuals, periods, and business transactions it relates to. In addition, it is important to understand how the investigating authorities interpret that data and what conclusions they draw from it in relation to the alleged offense. Therefore, the defense must compare the data relied on by investigators with the underlying business transactions and the specific allegations made.
In EPPO proceedings, investigating authorities may secure not only documents and data but also bank accounts, claims, or other assets. The EPPO Regulation provides for measures to preserve assets for possible later confiscation. In addition, the relevant national rules apply to the execution of such measures.
In Germany, this may include measures to secure assets under the German Code of Criminal Procedure and subsequent confiscation under the German Criminal Code. Such measures can have significant economic consequences for both companies and individuals, because assets may be frozen while the investigation is still ongoing.
The defense should therefore review at an early stage:
EPPO investigations may affect a company and individual managing directors, employees, or other responsible persons at the same time.
However, the interests of those involved do not necessarily coincide. What appears favorable to the company may be detrimental to a managing director — and vice versa. Different defense interests may also arise in relation to the disclosure of documents, the internal allocation of responsibilities, or the assessment of individual business transactions.
There is no general answer to this question. Before undertaking a joint representation, it is necessary to examine the procedural position of each party and whether their interests are compatible. If a conflict of interest arises, separate legal representation may be necessary. Particularly where several suspects or companies are involved, the issue should be addressed at the outset of the engagement.
In practice, we recommend a clear separation between the defense of individual suspects and the representation of the company. However, in individual cases it may be useful to coordinate certain common aspects of the respective defenses while keeping the individual defense positions separate. This type of limited coordination is referred to in Germany as Sockelverteidigung.
Our article EPPO Proceedings and Employer-Funded Defense: When Conflicts of Interest Can Arise explains when an employer-funded defense may create conflicts of interest.
EPPO investigations may involve several Member States at the same time. If an investigative measure must be carried out in another Member State, the Delegated European Prosecutor handling the case may assign its execution to a Delegated European Prosecutor operating in that State.
This may mean, for example, that within the same proceeding:
In such proceedings, individual investigative measures cannot be considered in isolation. The defense must determine which part of the proceeding is being conducted in which country, on what legal basis a particular measure was ordered, and which law governs its execution.
In addition, the Court of Justice of the European Union has clarified how judicial review may operate in cross-border EPPO investigations. Responsibility for judicial review may be divided between the Member State of the Delegated European Prosecutor handling the case and the Member State of the assisting Delegated European Prosecutor.
Therefore, investigations involving several countries may require coordinated defense with lawyers working in the relevant legal systems. Further information is available on our page on International Criminal Law.
Once we have accepted the engagement, we formally notify the competent authority that we are acting as defense counsel and generally request access to the case file. If search, seizure, or asset-freezing orders have already been issued, we review those orders together with the documents and data already secured.
Where a proceeding has connections to several countries, it is also necessary to determine what defense measures are required locally and how cooperation with lawyers in the legal systems concerned should be organized.
Only then can the defense decide whether to make a statement on the allegations and, if so, in what form.
In Germany, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office operates through regional centers located in Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Cologne, and Munich. The Munich center is responsible for Bavaria and Saxony.
The German office of Barba & Partner Rechtsanwälte is located in Munich. However, our defense work in EPPO proceedings is not limited to cases in Munich or Bavaria. In suitable complex criminal proceedings, we also act outside Bavaria and, in cross-border matters, coordinate the defense with lawyers in other Member States.
Further information on our criminal defense work at our Munich office is available on our page Criminal Defense Lawyer in Munich.
Yes. EUStA is the German abbreviation for Europäische Staatsanwaltschaft, the German name for the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. Internationally, the authority uses the English name European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO). Both terms refer to the same institution.
No. Suspects in EPPO proceedings are not required to make a statement about the allegations. Whether and when a defense statement is appropriate depends on the specific case and the contents of the case file.
Barba & Partner Rechtsanwälte provides criminal defense in Germany and, where necessary, coordinates cooperation with lawyers in the other countries involved in cross-border proceedings. In matters involving both Germany and Italy, our Munich and Milan offices can work together in handling the engagement.
This will generally be apparent from a summons, a search warrant, or other procedural documents. The documents may, for example, use the terms Europäische Staatsanwaltschaft (EUStA), European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), or Delegierter Europäischer Staatsanwalt, meaning Delegated European Prosecutor. Individual investigative measures may nevertheless also be carried out by national police, customs, or tax investigation authorities.
If you or your company is involved in an EPPO proceeding, you can initially send us the key information about the case by email or through our contact form.
For an initial assessment, the following information is particularly helpful:
Please initially send only the essential documents received from the authorities and do not send large volumes of data or complete case files unless agreed with us in advance.
We generally handle complex criminal proceedings on the basis of an individual fee agreement. Billing is based on the terms agreed in advance, typically on an hourly basis.
Before accepting an engagement, we agree the fees with you and check for potential conflicts of interest.
Submitting an inquiry does not yet establish a lawyer-client relationship. We take on a matter only after reviewing it and expressly confirming our acceptance.
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